Reap What You Sow
by Gali10
Summary: Arthra Toxotis, a drell born on Rakhana, has to work with the Normandy crew to avenge the death of her mentor - the turian who elevated her from a hellish world to a marvellous galaxy - Nihlus Kryik.
1. Rakhana

Arthra insistently pushed the heavy cart forward through the deserted city's empty streets. She struggled with the effort, but she couldn't stop or slow down. The group she was following was close, she could see that from the tracks they left behind, and she needed to catch up. A group this large – at least fifty drell – had to have their own breath-giver with them.

Hopefully her cargo of three sand serpents – each one at least five times bigger than her and much heavier – would be enough to buy her an air filter. Some breath-givers were reluctant to sell filters outside their own group, but these serpents had plenty of fresh meat on them. No one could afford to turn down food on Rakhana, especially when they travelled in a group with so many people.

 _That's only if I can get to them, of course,_ Arthra thought grimly as she spotted the two men with guns trying to ambush her. Before they even realised they've been seen, Arthra shot an arrow from her crossbow at one man's face and ducked behind her cart as the other started shooting.

 _Fuck._ The huntress thought as she put another arrow in her crossbow. They were one-on-one now, but crossbow versus machine-gun wasn't an optimal situation. Fortunately, there was more to Arthra than met the eye. Using her biotics to pull the shooter out from his cover, the huntress carefully aimed her crossbow at his head and pulled the trigger.

Arthra smiled victoriously as she started to drag the men's bodies to her cart, examining them for loot. Most importantly, although they were used, two extra air filters meant she was no longer in such a hurry to get a new one. Their guns and ammo were also definitely worth keeping – personally she preferred her crossbow, but a weapon was always easy to sell.

Arthra also replaced her boots with a better pair, and added a knife and a compass to her possessions, before finally stripping the corpses and throwing them into her cart with the serpents.

No one could afford to turn down food on Rakhana. Not even when that food was another drell.

* * *

Kicked in the shoulder, Arthra woke up to see the barrel of a shotgun aimed at her head. At least it had the shape of a shotgun, but its technology was way more advanced than anything the huntress has ever seen.

Looking up, she saw a mean grin on a face with four eyes. She probably still wasn't fully awake yet, because at first she thought it was just a drell who's been deformed by toxic radiation. Then she saw two other four-eyed creatures with futuristic weaponry and realised these were definitely not drell.

She was still frozen in shock when the alien pointing the gun at her said something in a roar-like voice, sounding angry, but Arthra had no idea what he said. The alien seemed to realise she didn't understand him – looking annoyed, he tapped on some kind of glowing device on his forearm before he spoke again.

"On your feet, slave," he said, "And if I'll have to repeat myself again I'm blowing your brains out."

Regaining her senses, Arthra got up obediently. Moments later, she was led handcuffed outside by the aliens. In the normally empty street of the ghost city, a convoy of futuristic vehicles now stood waiting. She was shoved into one of these vehicles, and saw a dozen more drell in handcuffs inside. They all looked as miserable as she felt, and many had fresh wounds and bruises.

The convoy started moving, stopping for a few minutes every once in a while. Each time a few more drell prisoners were led into the vehicles before the convoy continued its journey.

Arthra tried to think of a way out of her situation, but the cuffs seemed to block her biotics. The aliens didn't even bother to take away her crossbow, knowing there was no way she could use it against them.

Eventually, however, it seemed an escape might be possible after all. Arthra was startled by an explosion from outside, but shock quickly turned to hope. The convoy stopped abruptly, and the sound of gunshots and more explosions filled her ears. _Whoever is fighting these aliens isn't from around here,_ she realised – no one she ever met had the firepower to fight them, nor the will to risk their life for strangers.

After a few minutes, the sounds of the fight were replaced with heavy silence. Everyone in the vehicle held their breath, wondering if they were truly saved.

Moments later the handcuffs on the drell prisoners fell from their wrists, and as the vehicles' doors opened most of them rushed outside and scattered away. Arthra was about to do the same, but then she saw from the corner of her eye a different kind of alien finishing off the last of the four-eyed stragglers.

The creature was very tall, with long limbs and hands that looked like talons. It had mandibles around its mouth and a crest of metallic horns covering the top of its head. More than anything its features reminded Arthra of a pterodactyl, only with advanced alien weapons instead of wings.

There were at least twenty four-eyed alien corpses scattered around, and the young drell huntress was not only grateful to the tall alien who saved her but also extremely impressed. She wanted to try to express her gratitude to the creature, but as Arthra began to approach it she saw that one of the other aliens was about to shoot it in the back.

Instantly acting on instinct, she biotically pulled the four-eyed alien within reach of herself and slit its throat with an arrow from her quiver.


	2. More Like a Varren

**Thanks for the review, Celtic Knot, I hope you'll enjoy it.**

* * *

Arthra had no idea what surprise would look like on the alien's face, but since its expression hasn't changed that likely wasn't it. Still, it sounded at least mildly surprised when it said, "Impressive. You have my thanks, drell."

The alien had what she could only describe as a distinct metallic purr to its voice, although otherwise it sounded almost like a drell man. It was still pretty weird how all these aliens could speak to her and she understood them, but Arthra had too many questions for the creature to wonder about that.

"Don't mention it," the young drell shrugged and tried to speak with confidence, as if she didn't just kill an alien whose species was clearly much more advanced than her own, "But... what did just happen here?"

"I was hunting this gang of slavers," the alien answered. He didn't really seem interested in the conversation, but she guessed since he was checking his equipment anyway he figured that he had nothing better to do. "That I happened to finally catch up with them here was just a fortunate coincidence."

"What are they, though?" she asked, "Or you, for that matter?"

"I'm a turian, those were batarians," he answered absent-mindedly while tapping on one of those glowing forearm devices. Looking up for a second and seeing her confusion, he sighed and said, "I understand your curiosity, young drell, but I have neither time nor desire to explain a whole galaxy to you."

"Why hunt down the slavers, though?" she asked, ignoring the irritated tone, "Did they take someone from your group or something?"

At first the turian ignored her, starting to walk away, but when she followed him he said while walking, "I guess you could say that, if you consider the entirety of citadel space my 'group'."

"The entirety of... How many people are out there in space?"

"Trillions," he said, and Arthra gasped in shock. She wasn't even entirely sure what a 'trillion' was, but the largest group she's ever encountered had less than two hundred people.

"Can you take me there? To the stars?" she asked, not just simply curious anymore. So many people meant that there was enough out there to support everyone. _They probably don't even have to eat each other..._

"No."

"Just dump me somewhere people don't eat other people, you don't have to take care of me."

"You just basically admitted to being a cannibal. It would be pretty irresponsible of me to simply unleash you on the galaxy I'm supposed to protect."

"Even better, take me with you," she said as they came closer to what she assumed was his space-vehicle, "I can help you fight your citadel's enemies."

"I work better alone."

"Fine, I can stay out of your way. Basically you'll feel like you're alone. But just a minute ago you'd get shot if I weren't there, so maybe a little backup won't be the worst thing."

The turian stopped next to his vehicle, looking at her for a long moment and thinking. "If I take you on as my..."

"Sidekick," Arthra suggested, smiling.

"More like a varren, but you can call it sidekick if you like," he said, ignoring her confused frown at the unfamiliar word, "Anyway, if I take you with me, I'll be responsible for you and your actions. Be an asset, not a liability, or dumping you back on a hellhole like this will be a mercy compared to what I'll do."

"Prove my worth or die. Got it, sounds good," she said excitedly, "My name's Arthra, by the way. Arthra Toxotis."

* * *

Eight years later, it was just as hard as it was back then to believe that Nihlus took a chance on her. Even harder, now that she knew him better.

Their personalities were definitely not a great fit when they weren't out on a mission, and sometimes she'd wonder why he still kept her around. Her jokes and attitude often irritated him, and while her skills and biotics have been proven useful on many missions, she would have known nothing about the galaxy if he wasn't there to guide her. He even had to teach her to read and use modern technology. Her perfect drell memory and quick adaptive thinking helped with that, of course, but it was still a lot more effort than she's ever seen him put in anyone else.

At least until a few weeks ago, when he started obsessing over that Jane Shepard. _The Golden Human who singlehandedly repelled the Skyllian Blitz_ _and saved Elysium from the batarians._

"Am I still more like a varren?" she asked as they waited for the human captain, remembering their first meeting vividly. Her voice was more serious than Nihlus was used to, and she's never asked him about this before, so he looked at her in surprise for a few seconds.

"No," he said, sounding thoughtful, "I don't think you e-"

He stopped when David Anderson joined them, and Arthra had to resist the urge to groan in frustration.

"Captain Anderson, is the Normandy ready?" he asked sharply, instantly reassuming his usual tone.

"It is, Nihlus," the human answered, seemingly comfortable with the spectre's decision to skip the pleasantries.

"Good. Retrieving the prothean beacon should be simple enough, but I look forward to seeing Commander Shepard in action on our next few missions."

This time an exasperated groan escaped the drell biotic's mouth before she could suppress it. Nihlus ignored her – after eight years he was used to this sort of behaviour, and it was no news to him that Arthra was jealous of Shepard. Anderson, however, looked at her with raised eyebrow but said nothing. He didn't really understand the unusual relationship between the spectre and this drell woman, but as long as she didn't disrupt his crew's work she was the turian's problem.

"At least we're finally leaving Arcturus Station," Arthra said as she left the two men alone, "I'll be on the ship if you need me."


	3. Looking to be Killed

**Thanks, JimmyHall24, I hope you'll enjoy it!**

* * *

The human ship was busy with preparations for takeoff, voices sounding over the comms system every once in a while. Arthra didn't bother listening to what they were saying. Her job was to watch Nihlus's back on the mission, not pretend to care about how they got there.

The crew of the Normandy looked at her with a mixture of shock and fascination as she walked through the ship, clearly most of them have never seen a female (or any) drell. Some of the younger ones stopped to stare at her for a moment, before remembering they had much to do and no time for staring. Others, like the older officer whom she heard referred to as "Navigator Pressly" by one of his subordinates, looked at her much more warily.

As she made her way down to the second deck's living quarters, the drell bumped into someone. He would probably have fallen down the stairs if it wasn't for her lightning-fast reflexes, quickly catching his forearm and pulling him up.

He seemed pretty shaken from almost falling only to be caught with such force, and even more startled when he looked up at her and saw that her skin was emerald green and blood red.

"Wha-" the marine started, staring at her in confusion for a second before he shook his head and said, "Sorry, ma'am. I didn't see you there. You... Are you the spectre? I thought... They said you're a turian."

"He is," the drell replied, amused by his excitement. As much as she appreciated the entertainment, however, Arthra wanted to keep moving. She was really not looking forward to running into Shepard.

"So you work with him, then?" the curious marine asked, following her downstairs.

 _Weren't you going somewhere up on the command deck?_

"For him, not with," she corrected.

"Still impressive. It's an honour, ma'am."

"It's really not. And you really don't have to keep calling me ma'am," she said, heading to the lockers near the sleeper pods. After making sure that there's another empty locker available for Nihlus, she put her stuff in one of them.

It took her minute to put everything in order, however when she was done the human was still there. "What is it now?" she asked, impatience starting to replace her amusement.

Seeming to finally realise he was behaving pretty ridiculous, he mumbled an apology and left. By that time the Normandy was already leaving Arcturus Station and Captain Anderson was beginning his speech to the crew, which in Arthra's opinion was a perfect opportunity to get some sleep.

* * *

"Get to the Normandy's garage, I'll meet you there," Arthra heard Nihlus's order on their personal comm channel and immediately got moving, grabbing her gear from the locker on her way to the elevator, "It seems someone's trying to get to the beacon before us. The colony is under attack."

"Got it."

Two humans came down the stairs and got in the elevator just as the drell did. One was the overly excited marine she met before, who seemed much more anxious now. The other one was a lieutenant with short black hair, his expression serious and calm.

"Any idea what's going on down there?" the marine asked, and Arthra realised that he was probably concerned for the people on the ground. _Maybe his group is from Eden Prime._

"I'm sorry, Corporal," the lieutenant said, "I know you've got people there, but I don't know much more than you. We'll all be briefed soon." Then he looked at Arthra and added, "Unless you know something?"

"All I need to know is that someone down there is looking to be killed, and it's our job to not disappoint."

The lieutenant looked at her with surprise as they got out of the elevator, which at first she assumed was due to her attitude. However while they were waiting for the others and checking their equipment, he said, "I've met a few drell before, ma'am, and I don't mean to be rude but your voice is a bit more... human-like, I guess."

"You can just ask 'why don't you croak like a normal drell?' The answer to which is that I didn't grow up on Kahje like them."

That only seemed to pique the human's curiosity further, but Nihlus and Captain Anderson finally arrived, as well as Shepard in her black N7 armour. She had a helmet on, but Arthra could still see that the commander's hair was even redder than it looked in the vids – even more than the symbol on her armour.

While the Alliance soldiers were being briefed by their captain, Nihlus called her over to talk a short distance away. "I want you to join Shepard and her crew for this one," he said, raising a hand to silence her protest, "Things are more urgent than I would hope, I want to go ahead quickly and secure the beacon."

"We don't know what we're dealing with. You shouldn't go without backup."

"Don't worry, Arthra," he said in a stern tone that left no room for argument, although she felt that there was also a softness to it, "I worked alone for years before you started following me around, and right now what I need from you is to observe Shepard's performance. If I can't assess her abilities on this mission myself, at least I'll have your report."

Apparently the conversation was over, as they joined the Alliance crew.

"Approaching drop point one," their pilot said over the comms.

"You're coming with us?" the young marine asked Nihlus and his drell sidekick.

"I'll move faster on my own, Toxotis will go with you."

He stopped to whisper something in Shepard's ear before dropping off.

"Nihlus will scout out ahead," Anderson added, "He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission. Otherwise, I want radio silence."

"We've got his back, Captain," Shepard said confidently. "Glad to have you with us, Toxotis," she added, offering the drell a friendly smile. Arthra returned the smile, although hers was a little more forced.

"The mission's yours now, Shepard," Anderson said as they approached the second drop point, "Good luck."


	4. Eden Prime

**Wow, thank you so much JimmyHall24 and PtLacky!**

* * *

In the vids she saw on Arcturus Station, Eden Prime seemed like the type of planet other people found beautiful, however to Arthra it was much more homelike in its current condition. Not that she missed Rakhana, of course, but a drell raised in hell could never quite feel at home in heaven. As much as she was grateful for no longer being a breath away from dying at any given time, Arthra was too much of a survivor to fit well in peaceful times.

 _Well, this place is definitely no longer peaceful._

Destruction, fire and death were all around them, lingering in the air and on the horizon even at the drop point - further away from where the main attack happened.

"Oh God," the corporal said, "What happened here?" The drell felt bad for him. She knew the pain of losing her group, and wouldn't wish it for anyone. Definitely not this merry and hopeful young man, who followed her around excitedly just a little while ago.

However, there was nothing to do about it but hope that his group was safe. Securing the beacon and regrouping with Nihlus was all that mattered. In the long run, it was also the best way to protect the colony – clearly both sides were only here for the prothean artifact, so any unnecessary civilian casualties would be probably just meant to distract the Alliance.

Fortunately, the corporal seemed to understand that as well, and quickly recovered from his initial shock. They started to get moving in the beacon's direction, but didn't get very far before they ran into an ambush.

With her quick reflexes, Arthra was the first to react when the combat drones shot down at them. It didn't do much help, however, as the arrow from her crossbow just bounced off the thing's shields. Sadly, the corporal didn't get to cover in time, and was shot down by two of the drones.

There was barely any chance he survived with so many direct hits, and either way the rest of them had to deal with the drones first before they could try to help him.

It was surprising how well the three worked together. The lieutenant provided covering assault rifle fire, while Shepard carefully aimed her sniper rifle and took down a couple of drones, getting good hits despite of their rapid movements. Meanwhile Arthra moved in closer on them, dodging quickly from cover to cover. With her Tornado shotgun, she helped Shepard blast the few remaining drones.

 _This could have been a pretty good skirmish, if we didn't walk right into their ambush._

She returned to the humans, who were leaning over the corporal. It was clear that any hope they might have had for his survival, was gone now. The lieutenant gently closed the young man's eyes before getting back to his feet. "Ripped right through his shields," he said, sounding pained but still focused, "Never had a chance."

"We'll see that he receives a proper service once the mission is complete," Shepard said, "but I need you to stay focused."

He nodded, and said, "Aye aye, ma'am."

They continued to move after that, coming across another flock of drones. The humans and drell had no trouble dealing with them this time, working together with the same ease they demonstrated before.

"I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard," Nihlus updated them over the comms, "A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

Arthra frowned. This didn't make sense. Whoever they were fighting had to be after the beacon, so why make such a devastating attack somewhere away from the dig site?

There wasn't much time to wonder about that, as they had to deal with another flock of combat drones. _Any chance we could actually fight some people here, or did whoever it is just sent a drone armada to do their dirty work?_

If Nihlus could hear her thoughts, he'd tell her to be careful with her wishes, and he'd be right. It didn't take long after they dealt with these drones, before they came across a human soldier fighting two geth.

 _Wait, we're fighting geth?!_ She thought in surprise, not losing focus for a second as she and Shepard used covering fire from the other two to destroy the geth. This time surprise was on their side, and the geth didn't last long.

 _After Nihlus had her learn about the geth, she laughed and asked him what was the point._

" _I mean, it says they barely ever leave their native system," she told him, "and it's not like we're going to run into geth outlaws. So unless there are council plans to attack them…"_

" _There weren't any batarians on Rakhana either," he answered while reading reports, "Until one day they showed up, and you almost became their slave. It's lazy to only prepare for the threats you know about, Arthra."_

Back in the present, the female soldier said, "Thanks for your help, Commander. I didn't think I was going to make it. Gunnery Chief Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, ma'am?" She glanced for a second at the drell, clearly both unsure what exactly Arthra was and wary of the alien, but didn't say anything.

"Are you wounded, Williams?" Shepard asked.

"A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky," Williams tried to be professional and brief at first, but the loss was affecting her heavily, "Oh, man… We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"Where's the rest of your squad?" the commander asked.

"We tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked into an ambush."

 _Another ambush…_ Now that she knew they were dealing with geth, this made more since.

"I don't think any of the others…" Williams tried to speak but her voice broke, "I think I'm the only one left."

 _The bodies of eight female drell were laid on the floor of the abandoned factory. The young huntress dropped her crossbow and the fresh kill, shocked and grief-stricken. The faint sound of a pained groan made her come out of that shocked paralysis, and she rushed to the woman's side._

 _Sosostris was only four years older than Arthra, the two teenagers being the youngest in the group. She was her best friend from birth. Now she was dying, about to join the others in the Great Sea of Souls._

" _I'm sorry, Sos," she said, hugging her and weeping._

" _It's… not your fault," Sosostris managed to whisper through her last breaths, the palm of her hand over Arthra's, "Just… survive. Please. Find… a new group."_

"This isn't your fault, Williams," Shepard's voice echoed the memory of Sosostris, "You couldn't have done anything to save them."

"Yes, ma'am," Williams answered, clearly encouraged by the commander's words, "We held our position as long as we could. Until the geth overwhelmed us."

"The geth haven't been outside the Veil in nearly two hundred years," the lieutenant wondered out loud, "Why are they here now?"

"Obviously they're here for the beacon," Arthra answered, "But it's not the first prothean artifact discovered in two centuries nor the least guarded, so if they chose to attack here they must think something's special about this particular beacon."

"The dig site is close," Williams offered her input, "Just over that rise. It might still be there."

"We could use your help, Williams," Shepard said.

"Aye aye, ma'am. It's time for payback."

"First though, tell me everything you know about the beacon, and what happened before the attack," the commander asked.

"They were doing some digging out here to extend the monorail and expand the colony. A few weeks ago they unearthed some prothean ruins… and the beacon. Suddenly, every scientific expert in the colony was interested. That's when they brought us in to secure the site. We were sent out a couple nights ago from the main colony to secure the area. Seemed like a routine patrol until the geth hit us. We never knew they were coming. I don't know much about the beacon itself, but I heard one of the researchers say this could be the biggest scientific discovery of the century."

"What happened to the researchers at the dig site?" Shepard asked.

"I don't know. They set up camp near the beacon. The 232 was with them. Maybe their unit fared better than mine."

"Alright, let's move out," Shepard ordered.

"What's with the spikes?" Arthra wondered out loud as they started going, "I've studied a bit about geth, and there was definitely no mention of spikes."

"Well, they did bring these things here," Williams replied, and pointing at another spike with a human impaled on it, she added, "Impaling victims instead of just shooting them… There must be some reason behind it."

"Classic psychological warfare," the lieutenant said, "They're using terror as a weapon."

When the four of them got to the dig site, they had to fight another group of geth. However once the geth were dealt with, they realized the beacon wasn't there. "The beacon was right here," Williams said, "It must have been moved."

"By who?" the lieutenant wondered, "Our side? Or the geth?"

"Hard to say, maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp."

"You think anyone got out of here alive?" Shepard asked her.

"If they were lucky. Maybe hiding up in the camp. It's just on the top of this ridge, up the ramps."

They were about to leave the dig site when Nihlus spoke through the comms again, "Change of plans, Shepard. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

"Looks like they hit the camp hard," Williams observed when they got to the top of the ridge.

"It's a good place for an ambush," the lieutenant added, "Keep your guard up."

There were more spikes with people impaled on them, but these ones didn't look human anymore. Arthra wasn't sure what they looked like, but it was definitely monstrous. Then as they came closer, the spikes folded into themselves, and the creatures rose.


	5. The Cure to Optimism

**Thanks, JimmyHall24. I figured with the shock of the geth attack, meeting a new kind of alien for the first time will be the least of Ashley's problems, but she's definitely not nonchalant about it either.**

* * *

"Oh, god!" the lieutenant said in a shocked voice, "They're still alive!"

"I think calling these things 'alive' might be reaching..." Arthra commented.

"What did the geth do to them?!" Williams asked, sounding horrified.

The dehumanised creatures started running towards them, shaking them out of paralysis. Arthra blasted one creature's face off with her shotgun, and Shepard sprayed another with rounds from her assault rifle. The other humans needed a second more to recover from what they witnessed, but quickly joined the fighting too.

None of the things managed to get close enough to cause any damage, but after the skirmish they looked down at one of these... "Husks," as Shepard called them, "It's like the geth drained their body from organs, and replaced everything with synthetic spare parts."

"Well, that's not creepy at all..." Arthra said.

"Eden Prime will never be the same again," the lieutenant commented.

"Nah, they'll recover," she replied, "The geth didn't bring enough spikes for an actual zombie apocalypse."

"Can you stop it with the jokes already?!" Williams finally broke and told her angrily, "We thought this world was safe, until the geth showed up. Most of the people here were just civilians. How would you feel if this happened in whatever lizard-people world you come from?!"

Arthra wasn't impressed by Ashley's anger. Calmly, she answered, "I didn't mean to offend. Trying to make light of things when the situation turns bad is just something I do instinctively."

"Then maybe you should try to keep those comments to yourself."

"We don't have time for this right now," Shepard said, interrupting the argument, "Let's check out this shed, there might be survivors there." She pointed with her gun at the only building left intact. "Stay here and watch our backs, Williams," she ordered.

While they walked, the Commander told Arthra quietly but sternly, "Hopefully she'll cool off in a minute, but I need you to stop pushing her buttons. She's scared and shaken enough already, I don't need her more agitated."

The drell nodded, but there was still a defiant little smirk in her voice when she said, "Got it, Commander."

After the lieutenant bypassed the shed door's security lock, the three of them entered, finding a couple of civilians inside.

"Hurry!" said the male one, his voice terrified, "Close the door! Before they come back!"

"Don't worry," Shepard answered, but closed the door just to ease his mind, "We'll protect you."

"Thank you," the female scientist told her, much calmer than her friend, "I think we'll okay now. It looks like everyone's gone. I'm Dr. Warren, the researcher in charge of the excavation. Or... I was in charge."

"Do you know what happened to the beacon?" Arthra asked, ignoring the scolding glares from Shepard and the lieutenant. They didn't have time to coddle these civilians.

"It was moved to the spaceport this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."

"No one is saved!" Manuel interrupted her, "The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."

"What else can you tell me about the attack?" Shepard asked, ignoring his panicked ramblings.

"It all happened so fast," Warren told them, "One second we were gathering up our equipment, the next we were hiding in the shed while the geth swarmed over the camp."

"Agents of the destroyers!" Manuel exclaimed, "Bringers of darkness! Heralds of our extinction."

"We could hear the battle outside," Warren continued, ignoring him, "Gunfire, screams... I thought it would never end. Then everything went quiet. We just sat there, too afraid to move, until you came along."

"Did you notice a turian in the area?" Shepard asked. Nihlus did mention going to check out a few burnt down buildings earlier, but Arthra doubted he'd overlook this shed.

"I saw him," Manuel said, "The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack."

"That's impossible," the lieutenant said, "Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the attack. He couldn't have been here."

Arthra rolled her eyes. "Obviously," she said dismissively, "He probably just met some turian scientist yesterday, and decided to blame his disasters on the alien like scared humans often do."

"No," Warren said, "I'm sorry. We haven't seen any turians, before or after the attack. Manuel's just still a bit... unsettled."

The claim that the geth were following a turian didn't make sense anyway.

"What's wrong with your assistant?" the commander asked.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit... unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin."

"Is it madness to see the future?" he asked, "To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!"

"Can you tell us anything about the beacon?" Shepard changed the subject from the delusional man.

"It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime – miraculous new technologies, ground-breaking medical advances... Who knows what secrets are locked inside?"

"We have unearthed the heart of evil," Manuel corrected her, and Arthra had to refrain from commenting that insanity seemed to be the only cure to humanity's exaggerated optimism, "Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness."

"I think that's enough," Shepard said as he continued to mumble incoherently about the coming doom. "We need to get to the spaceport, Williams," she updated the soldier as they left the shed, "Lead us there."

* * *

Using the scope of her sniper rifle, Mirana T'Siris surveyed the area from her vantage point. "Nihlus is here, Saren. He's alone. The drell must be with the Alliance team, like you said."

The only acknowledgement that Saren gave her was a slight nod.

Nihlus got to the spaceport to entrance, and Saren revealed himself to him. Mirana couldn't hear them, but she could see that despite of his initial surprise Nihlus let his guard down. After a minute, Saren nodded at her.

Mirana took the shot.


	6. Dark Blue Blood

Arthra wasn't sure what to think about all of this. Nothing she studied about the geth said anything about interest in prothean beacons, and she's certainly never heard about anything like those husks or that gigantic bizarre ship.

 _Either the geth's technological evolution is way ahead of what the rest of the galaxy realised, or there's something else going on._

 _And speaking of husks..._

Another group of the creatures charged toward them just outside of the spaceport. This time one of them got close enough to the lieutenant before Shepard destroyed it, and he was zapped with an electrical charge strong enough to push him backwards to the ground.

"You okay, Alenko?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, getting back to his feet.

They started going again, but barely a minute later a terrible chill ran down Arthra's spine, seeing a small pool of dark blue blood.

 _Nihlus!_

She ran to his side, but it was too late. He was shot in the head, probably dying instantly.

Tears rolled down from her eyes, but she had to stay focused. Nihlus wouldn't want her to fall apart, not when there's still a mission to complete.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pained groan, and for a brief second the drell hoped that maybe she was wrong. That Nihlus might still be saved.

But there was no hope. Her saviour and mentor was dead, and there was no changing that.

Still, she wasn't ready to let go yet. "What..." she weakly asked, looking at the human crouching next to her - Williams, "Who is that?"

"A dockworker," the gunnery chief answered, her voice much softer than the drell would expect, "He took a few shots to the chest, but the lieutenant is trying to stabilise him."

 _He might have seen something,_ Arthra realised, shaking herself and rising from Nihlus's side. With Williams a step behind her, she joined Shepard and Alenko a short distance away.

"My name's Powell... I was hi-," the injured man was telling them between coughs when she arrived, his eyes barely open enough to even see her. It was doubtful he'll survive, but he might have useful information about the geth, "hiding from... those creatures. I saw what happened to that turian. He was t-talking with that other one, and then... She shot him."

"She?" Arthra asked, "He wasn't shot by one of the geth?"

Powell shook his head. "An... asari. I'm sure it was her."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Shepard asked.

"I don't think I'm going to make it, am I?"

With a sad expression, Alenko shook his head.

Powell nodded. "Then at least I can help... I guess," he took a few seconds to his own thoughts, and then continued, "The other one got here first. He was waiting... when your friend showed up. He called him... Saren."

 _Why would Saren be here? This doesn't make any sense._

None of it did. The geth, the asari, the strange tech, Saren... Nothing fit anything she knew, and the one person she trusted to figure it out was... gone.

"Your friend..." Powell continued, "He let his guard down. Then... then Saren nodded at someone... Over there." He tried to point, but his hand was too weak.

"That's where the shot came from. Saren... he didn't look surprised or worried... Nothing, just walked away. I thought I was lucky... he didn't see me. But then she came, from where the shot... She saw me, did... this."

"I'm sorry we can't help you," Shepard said, sounding sincere, "Do you know what happened to the prothean beacon? We were told it was brought to this spaceport."

"Other platform..." Powell said, sounding weaker with every breath, "Probably where... they were... headed... On the... cargo train." He took a few more slow ragged breaths, but after a minute he was gone.

 _Saren... Ordered the asari to kill Nihlus?_ Arthra wasn't sure if she believed it. Nihlus looked up to Saren, he was his mentor. But if what Powell said was true, than he really must be behind all of this. Arthra never liked Saren, and he certainly never bothered hiding his contempt for her, but Nihlus always trusted him. _He can't have been so wrong about Saren..._

"We need to find that beacon before it's too late," Shepard said, stopping the spiralling of the drell's thoughts.

Turning around, Arthra stopped for a few seconds and looked at Nihlus.

"Are you going to be okay, Toxotis?" the commander asked, "I know you were close."

"I can handle it, Shepard," she said, speaking with determination, "I need some combat-therapy."

There was definitely no shortage of geth to fight. If Saren really was responsible for the attack, it seemed that the closer he came to the beacon, the more troops he decided to leave behind to guard it. Each group of geth was bigger in numbers and more heavily armed than the last.

The four of them worked well together, though. Arthra and Williams led the group, the drell's biotics and the human's assault rifle fire hitting the geth first, while Alenko overloaded their systems and Shepard worked with her sniper rifle.

The geth apparently set explosive charges at the platform the beacon was at. Luckily Alenko was able to disable them, or the whole colony would have been wiped out. Still, it seemed more about destroying evidence than just killing humans. _And the geth wouldn't bother covering their tracks like this, which means someone else really is behind everything._ But she still couldn't be sure Saren was that someone.

When the group finally got to where the beacon was, they had to fight more of those husks as well as the geth. It took both Arthra and Alenko's biotics just to keep the cyber-zombies away from them, and it was a long and hard gunfight before they managed to clear the platform.

 _No asari assassin. No Saren. No answers._

Looking at the prothean artefact, the commander contacted the ship, "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac."

While she listened to their answer, the other two humans walked a little closer to the beacon. They were talking, seeming in awe of the ancient technology, but Arthra didn't hear what they said. Her mind was going back to seeing Nihlus's body, vividly reliving that awful moment again and again.

"Roger, Normandy," Shepard's voice brought the drell back to the present, "Standing by."

Williams came back to join them, but the lieutenant continued to approach the beacon. Suddenly its green glow became an almost blinding light and it seemed to be pulling the man. Perhaps Arthra could have pulled him away from there more quickly, but the lingering shock from losing Nihlus seemed to slow her down now that the fighting was over. Instead, it was Shepard that got to him, pushing Alenko away from the beacon's pull but getting caught in it herself.

The beacon lifted the commander in the air, seeming to violently transmit something into her brain. The lieutenant tried to run back and help her, but Arthra and Williams held him back. It was too late for that.

"You can't touch her," the Ashley said, trying to calm him down, "It's too dangerous."

After a minute, the beacon finally exploded, throwing Shepard back. As she crashed to the ground, the others rushed over to check her condition.


	7. Status Summary: Failed

After they got back on the Normandy, as Alenko and Williams carried the commander to the medbay, heartache finally hit Arthra. Nihlus was gone, forever, and she was all alone again.

A part of her expected to wake up on Rakhana any moment now, finding out that it was all just a dream. After all, how could there be a galaxy when there was no Nihlus? From her very first second in outer space, he was always there to guide the young drell. Everything she knew about this galaxy – he taught her, everything she's done in the past eight years (or at least everything good that she's done) was because he gave her purpose.

Somewhere in the back of her head, Arthra realised that Captain Anderson was talking to her, but she couldn't hear anything he said. Years worth of memories were being relived in her mind – moments tied to dozens of different emotions, that now all carried an undertone of deep sadness. And again and again, she was led by her memories to the last moment – to the turian's body laying on the spaceport platform.

 _Did I cause this?_ She asked herself. After all, Nihlus used to work best alone. To singlehandedly deal with entire platoons. Was it possible that having her around as backup made him lose that edge?

Either way, as devastated as she was emotionally, Arthra's rational mind demanded that she focus on her obligation to Nihlus. She had to bring whoever killed him to justice. Especially if this was Saren, if her mentor truly was betrayed by someone he trusted so much.

But first, she needed to send the council Nihlus's mission end of mission report. He'd want her to complete the mission. Using her omni-tool, she wrote:

 _ **Mission status summary: Failed.**_ _Retrieval of prothean beacon failed. Spectre Kryik KIA._

 _Human colony attacked by_ _ **geth**_ _. Attempted demolition of colony_ _ **averted**_ _by Alliance team._

 _ **Spectre Kryik killed**_ _by sniper. Witness identified assassin as_ _ **unknown asari**_ _._

 _Human claims geth led by_ _ **unknown turian**_ _. Witness identified turian as "_ _ **Saren**_ _"._

 _Beacon presumably accessed by geth &/or possible unknown turian._

 _ **Beacon**_ _activated by Alliance officer & __**destroyed**_ _. Cause unknown. Effect on human unknown._

 _Evaluation of_ _ **CDR**_ _ **J Shepard**_ _: Spectre Kryik's asset reports_ _ **above adequate**_ _performance._

She didn't like using this dry language to describe the death of someone she cared for deeply, but Nihlus taught her that this was how the council liked their reports. Also, the truth was that summarising the mission into a few short sentences with clear distinction between facts and assumptions helped Arthra see things clearer.

The only aliens she actually saw on Eden Prime were humans and the geth. Reports of other aliens working with the geth, and more specifically of Saren's involvement, were all unverified and made by deeply traumatised humans. _And then there's Anderson's history with Saren..._

The idea that the Alliance captain was framing Saren for Nihlus's murder should have been ridiculous, but so was the alternative. _Saren's the council's top agent._ And at least in this option the betrayal wasn't so deep.

They brought the bodies of Nihlus and the corporal, already in metallic caskets. Nihlus didn't have any real family or friends. The person closest to him was... _Saren?_

* * *

The drell kept away from the human crew, staying in the Normandy's garage. She didn't think Anderson was really responsible, as much as she wished it to be otherwise Saren's involvement made much more sense, but she couldn't be sure.

 _Saren is known to hate humans, and he ruined Anderson's chances of becoming a spectre. Framing him for murdering his own protégé could be the captain's revenge..._ But nothing she knew about Anderson suggested he was this vengeful, and unless he knew in advance about the geth attack (which would make even less sense) this whole murder plot was improvised on the spot.

 _No, it can't be him._ She came to the certain, though unfortunate, conclusion. _But was it Saren?_

Finally getting up, she exited the elevator to the second deck just as the captain and Ashley walked out of the medbay. "Lieutenant Alenko said you handled yourself well on the ground, Williams," Anderson told the soldier, "If you have no objections, I'll reassign you to the Normandy. We could use a soldier like you."

Ashley seemed a little worried about the reassignment, but she nodded without hesitation and said, "Aye aye, sir. I'll be honoured to."

As the two went their separate ways, Arthra approached the older man. "Captain Anderson, how's the commander doing?"

"Dr. Chakwas says Shepard should be fine physically," he answered, "Her brain, however... There may be cause for concern. The doctor said she detected unusual readings... something about beta waves."

"I hope she'll recover, captain," the drell replied, "But can we talk about another matter?"

"Saren," he said, and Arthra nodded. She was surprised that he already knew, and for a second it raised her suspicions again, but he must've just debriefed Alenko while the doctor ran her tests. _Stop doubting yourself, Toxotis,_ shescolded herself, _he didn't do it._

"As much as I hate to admit it, although I doubt you share the sentiment, it's highly unlikely that he wasn't the turian seen by those survivors," she finally admitted, not only to Anderson but also herself, "But we need to prove it."


	8. Rogue Spectre

**Thanks JimmyHall24!**

* * *

It took fifteen hours for Shepard to finally regain consciousness. During that time, after Arthra and Anderson discussed their suspicions of Saren and briefed the human ambassador about the situation (she decided to stick with the humans for the time being), she took the opportunity to rest a little and clear her mind.

The drell was vidcomming with a C-Sec officer named Vakarian, who's only been assigned to the investigation a couple of hours earlier, when she got an alert from Anderson that the commander was awake. After she finished telling the turian detective everything she could about Saren and the Eden Prime attack, she opened the file attached to the alert. It was a recoding of Shepard's first debriefing after regaining consciousness.

" _I saw... I'm not sure what I saw,"_ the commander said, describing visions apparently triggered by the beacon, _"Death, destruction... Nothing's really clear."_

As the humans continued to talk, she wondered what it could mean. _Death and destruction can easily be found in thousands of places all around the galaxy at any given time, so what's so important about this vision that Saren murdered Nihlus for it?_

" _Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, commander,"_ Anderson said, _"Are you sure you're okay?"_

" _I don't like soldiers dying under my command."_

" _Jenkins wasn't your fault. You did a good job, Shepard."_

" _Intel dropped the ball, sir. We had no idea what we were walking into down there. That's why things went to hell."_

" _The geth haven't been outside the Veil in two centuries, commander. Nobody could have predicted this."_

But by now it was obvious that the real issue was what they still didn't know. Saren's involvement, his asari accomplice, their connection to the geth and interest in the beacon... 'Geth attack on human colony' was the kind of headline news editors liked, especially since it reminded people about the dangers of AIs and fuelled anti-quarian prejudices, but there was definitely much more to it.

" _But I won't lie to you, Shepard. Things look bad. Nihlus is dead, the beacon was destroyed and geth are invading. The council's going to want answers."_

" _I didn't do anything wrong, captain. Hopefully, the council can see that."_

" _I'll stand behind you and your report, Shepard. You're a damned hero in my books. The report Toxotis sent to the council also states you handled the situation as well as possible, which honestly may carry more weight to them than my word._

" _But that's not why I'm here. It's Saren, that other turian. Saren's a spectre, one of the best. A living legend. But if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue. Nihlus used to be his protégé, Shepard, but even Toxotis believes he had him murdered._

" _Saren's dangerous, and he hates humans."_

" _He didn't come to Eden Prime because he hates humans."_

" _You're right. Saren has allied himself with the geth, at least one asari assassin, and who knows what other allies he has. I don't know how he's accomplished this, and I don't know why – but it had something to do with that beacon._

 _You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?"_

" _Just before I lost consciousness, I had some kind of... vision."_

" _A vision? A vision of what?"_

" _I saw synthetics – geth, maybe – slaughtering people, butchering them."_

" _We need to report this to the council, Shepard,"_ the captain said, and Arthra choked on her water in laughter. The council was barely going to take her own report of what actually happened seriously, and they certainly weren't going to even acknowledge Shepard's vision as worth hearing about.

" _They'll think I'm crazy,"_ Shepard said, and Arthra nodded in agreement.

But Anderson wasn't going to be persuaded. _"We don't know what information was stored in that beacon,"_ he said, _"Lost prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it._

 _But Toxotis and I know Saren. We both know him personally, and we know his reputation and politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This attack was an act of war. He has the secrets from the beacon, he has an army of geth and other allies at his command, and he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy."_

" _I'll find some way to take him down."_

" _It's not that easy. He's a spectre – he can go anywhere, do almost anything. Toxotis says the files Nihlus had about you have already been transferred to him. Technically she's supposed to be his asset now too, but she's on our side. It's not enough, though. We need the council on our side."_

" _We'll prove Saren's gone rogue and the council will revoke his spectre status."_

" _The ambassador said he'll try to get us an audience with the council. He'll also want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel."_

* * *

About a minute later, Arthra met the commander herself in the CIC. "How are you holding up?" Shepard asked, looking genuinely empathetic.

"I'll be better once we prove Saren's rotten and bring him to justice," she said in a harsh tone, but then added more calmly, "But for now, I'm okay. Thanks. Staying focused on the mission helps."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Toxotis. I didn't really know Nihlus, but everything I heard of him was impressive. He was one of the good ones."

"The best," she said sadly, missing her mentor, "I'm sorry too, about Corporal Jenkins."

"Thanks," Shepard said with a sad smile. She headed towards the bridge, and Arthra was about to follow her when she got a message and stopped to read it. _Hmm, I wonder what Tela Vasir wants..._

* * *

Arthra has only been with Nihlus for about a year, when the council decided that it was time for Blood Pack founder Ganar Wrang to die. They didn't actually want a war with his mercs, however, so the assassination of Wrang had to be planned carefully based on the very best intel. And according to Nihlus, no spectre had a more intimate knowledge of the galaxy's underworld than Tela Vasir.

"I knew Saren was exaggerating when he said you've gotten yourself a pet feral drell," was the first thing Arthra heard the asari say, when Nihlus and her met Tela in the Citadel, "I was expecting some sort of illiterate axe-wielding lizard, but she doesn't seem less intelligent than your average krogan."

Then she noticed that Arthra was reading a Blasto graphic novel and corrected herself, with a hint of disgust in her voice, "Or at least your average vorcha."

That initial disapproval didn't seem to stop Tela from hooking up with Arthra after the mission was done and Wrang was dead. Although the spectre did tell her afterwards, "I've been with drell before, Toxotis, so trust me when I say you're definitely a feral drell."

* * *

 _Hey Tox,_

 _My condolences. I know Nihlus was like a father to you._

 _I'm hoping it's just an outburst of grief that caused you to accuse Saren of murdering him. I'd hate to find out you've gone insane and then gotten yourself killed. Not sure I don't believe you, but it takes a serious moron to go against someone like Saren._

 _Anyway, if he doesn't end up killing you, feel free to contact me. I could use a pet feral drell._

 _Vasir_


	9. Spectre Politics

**Thank you PtLacky, I'm very glad to hear that!**

* * *

"This an outrage!" Ambassador Udina protested, losing his temper, "The council would step in if the geth attacked a turian colony."

 _Step in to do what, retaliate by bombarding Rannoch? The attack is all over now, and the real threat is Saren – not the geth._

Not that Arthra really cared about stopping whatever threat Saren posed to the galaxy, anyway. What she really wanted was justice for Nihlus – these two things just happened to be the same.

"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, ambassador," Councillor Valern answered. He wasn't technically wrong, but much like Udina – there was no point to what he said. The humans founded colonies on the edges of Citadel space out of necessity rather than choice, and Eden Prime wasn't even one of those colonies.

 _This vidcom is so ridiculously pointless,_ the drell thought in frustration, _they're just rehashing the same old political arguments that have nothing to do with the real issue._

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse," Tevos added. She was usually the most reasonable of the three, but it seemed Udina had a gift for making even the most sensible people lose their patience.

"What about Saren?" the old human finally decided to say something relevant, "You can't just ignore a rogue spectre. I demand action!"

 _He demands? Is this seriously humanity's top diplomat? How did he get this job?_

"You don't get to make demands of the council, ambassador," Sparatus reminded him.

"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren," Tevos said, "We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing, not before."

Having confirmed that there was really no point to the vidcom, the council ended it. Turning away, the angry ambassador faced Anderson.

"Captain Anderson, I see you brought half your crew with you," he said with clear dissatisfaction, "And Miss Toxotis too. Was your pilot unavailable?"

 _Exactly, take your frustration out on the captain. That will change the council's minds._

"It's just the ground team from Eden Prime," Anderson explained, "In case you had any questions."

"You already briefed me, and I have the mission reports," the ambassador said impatiently, "I assume it's all accurate?"

"It is," Anderson confirmed, his tone much more diplomatic than that of the actual diplomat, "Sounds like the council agreed to give us an audience."

"Yes, although it took some convincing on my part. They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

 _Bullshit,_ Arthra thought but didn't say anything. Councillor Tevos would never show it, but she was eager to get rid of Saren. She disliked the man and his methods, and while technically spectres served the whole council, everyone knew deep down he was still a Hierarchy soldier – and therefore more loyal to Sparatus than the other councillors. Even without the humans' petition, Arthra's report would be reason enough for Tevos to launch an investigation.

"Saren's a threat to every human colony out there," Shepard said, "He needs to be stopped. The council has to listen to us."

"Give them proof and they will," Arthra confidently said.

"Settle down, Miss Toxotis," Udina said, "You may have nothing to lose, but Shepard's actions reflect on all of humanity – and she's already done more than enough to jeopardise her candidacy for the spectres."

Losing his temper again, he continued to accuse the commander, "The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed."

"That's Saren's fault, not hers," Anderson was quick to jump in Shepard's defence. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Alenko's hand on Arthra's shoulder gently pulled her back, before she could show Udina what she thought about his "Nihlus ended up dead" comment.

"Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations," the ambassador said, "Otherwise the council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the spectres.

"Come with me, captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard – you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in."

"And that's why I hate politicians," Williams said as Udina and Anderson left.

"Actually, I think he's why a lot of people hate humans," Arthra said, smiling at the frown she got from the soldier, "Anyway, I've got a meeting to get to, but I guess I'll see you at the hearing."

* * *

"The matriarch will see you now," Irissa's assistant said.

There was no furniture or windows in Matriarch Irissa's office, which was lit by a soft bluish light emitted from the ceiling. The floor, on which the matriarch was sitting cross-legged, was made of glass and sitting atop an aquarium where several strange fish swam.

"Those are Snapping Eels from Khar'shan," Irissa answered the unasked question. She gestured for Arthra to join her on the floor, and said after a moment, "I'm glad you could come, Asset Toxotis. Tela Vasir speaks... highly of you." The asari's tone made it clear that Tela told her about more than just their work together.

"I'm not entirely sure why you wanted to see me, matriarch," Arthra said honestly. _Still, when one of the most influential politicians in the galaxy summons you (especially if you happen to have the legal standing of being your worst enemy's pet), you come straight to her office._

"Tevos informed me of the situation with Saren," Irissa said, "In your report, you mentioned an asari was working with him. That it seems he ordered her to assassinate Nihlus."

Arthra didn't say anything, just nodded and listened.

"It's most likely that this assassin was just a mercenary. Sadly, there's no shortage of asari maidens so eager for adventure they'll be willing to murder a spectre," the matriarch paused for a moment, and then said, "But we have to take more into consideration than only what's likely, as inconvenient as these possibilities may be."

Suddenly feeling colder, Arthra looked down and saw that her legs were underwater. Apparently they weren't sitting on glass floor, but on a kinetic barrier sustained by Irissa. And now the part of the barrier the drell sat on, was lowering slowly.

Ignoring the threat, she looked at Matriarch Irissa again. Smiling, the asari continued.

"If anything turns up during your investigation into Saren that even hints he might have allied himself with a matriarch, I am going to be the first one who knows about it. A rogue turian spectre is quite an embarrassment for the Hierarchy, but not if he's revealed to be allied with an asari matriarch. Don't get me wrong, if you're right about Saren then you'll get your revenge – on him and any other traitors working with him. All I want is your discretion – and in return you'll get my assistance, rather than make me your enemy."

Just as she could feel eels beginning to bite at the toes of her boots, the barrier floor was even again. "I enjoyed your company immensely, Asset Toxotis," Irissa said warmly, as if she hasn't just threatened her and asked her to cover up a possible treason, "My condolences on your mentor's death."


	10. No Evidence

Arthra ran into the human marines at Citadel Tower, so the four of them went to the hearing together from there.

The drell's mind was still processing her meeting with Matriarch Irissa, but there wasn't much to do about it for now. Like the asari politician said, the assassin was most likely just a mercenary.

"The council isn't gonna ask me any questions, are they?" Williams wondered out loud.

"I doubt it," Alenko answered, "We've made our reports, now we just have to trust ambassador Udina."

"No we don't, sir," she said, making Arthra laugh.

About a minute later, the drell noticed two turians ahead, talking in hushed but angry voices. Recognising the two as Executor Pallin and Vakarian, she signalled for the humans to stop and listen.

"Saren's hiding something," Vakarian said, "Give me more time. Stall them."

"Stall the council? Don't be ridiculous," Pallin answered, "Your investigation is over, Garrus."

 _This isn't great,_ Arthra thought as the executor walked away, _If C-Sec couldn't find anything to prove Saren's treason, Tevos won't be able to convince the other councillors to remove his spectre status. It will just be me, and maybe the Normandy crew too, against the council's top agent._

Noticing the four of them, Vakarian approached. "I wish I could say it's good to see you again, Asset Toxotis," he said, "But I gather from your grave faces that you heard Executor Pallin just now."

Arthra nodded. "Commander Shepard, this is Garrus Vakarian," she introduced the two, "He's the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

"Sounds like you really want to bring him down," the commander told Vakarian.

"I don't trust him," the turian explained, "Something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a spectre – everything he touches is classified, I can't find any hard evidence."

"If you can't, I will," Arthra said, more confidently than she really felt. Just in case, though, she sent Tela a message asking if she could get any intel from the Shadow Broker. The asari spectre didn't want to get involved, but Arthra knew she cared – maybe enough to help with a tip, as long as it can't be traced back to her.

"I think the council's ready for us, commander," Alenko reminded them.

"Good luck, Toxotis," Vakarian said, "And you too, Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you."

But it seemed increasingly doubtful.

* * *

"The geth attack is a matter of some concern," Tevos said, "But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way."

If the matter wasn't so personal to her, Arthra would appreciate the councillor's pragmatism. Just hours ago she was planning to get rid of Saren, but as soon as the asari realised C-Sec found nothing on him – the politician changed her tune.

As expected, Sparatus was quick to reiterate the point, "The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason."

"An eye witness saw him with Nihlus on Eden Prime, giving the kill order on his fellow spectre," Udina reminded them angrily.

"We've read the Eden Prime reports, ambassador," Valern answered, although Arthra doubted he read much more than just her summary – the salarian councillor preferred to know as little as possible on the spectres' operations, "The testimony of a dying traumatised dockworker is hardly compelling proof. Asset Toxotis herself conceded that the only hostiles encountered on the ground were geth."

"Nihlus was my protégé and friend," said Saren, who was fortunately only present via vidcom or else Arthra might have lost control, "I resent these accusations, especially coming from this ungrateful pet – who's taking advantage of this bogus investigation to avoid my guardianship. Since when is the Alliance allowed to harbour fugitive spectre assets?"

"Do you expect us to hand her over so you can murder her too?" Anderson countered. Arthra appreciated that he wanted to protect her, but she knew the captain just made a mistake. He not only reminded the council of his history with Saren, but also basically admitted the spectre's accusation that the Alliance harboured her had merit.

"You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me, Captain Anderson," Saren said smugly, clearly enjoying how easy it was to bait Anderson into the argument, "And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard – the one who let the beacon get destroyed."

"You're the one who destroyed the beacon," Jane answered angrily, "Then you tried to cover it up."

" _Beacon activated by Alliance officer and destroyed. Cause unknown_ ," Saren mockingly quoted from Arthra's own report, "Shifting the blame to cover your own failures, just like Captain Anderson. He's taught you well. But what can you expect from a human? Your species needs to learn to its place, Shepard. You're not ready to join the council, you're not even ready to join the spectres."

"He has no right to say that!" Ambassador Udina barked in childish outrage, making Arthra roll her eyes, "That's not his decision!"

"Shepard's admission into the spectres is not the purpose of this meeting," Tevos reminded the turian spectre.

"This meeting has no purpose," he answered angrily, "The humans are wasting your time, councillor. And mine."

"You can't hide behind the council forever," Shepard said coldly in reply.

"There is still one outstanding issue," Anderson changed the subject before the argument could escalate, "Commander Shepard's vision – it may have been triggered by the beacon." Arthra had to stop herself from groaning in frustration. _Enough with this mysterious vision! It's Saren we need to deal with, not Shepard's so-called warning!_

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence now?" Saren mocked, "How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

"I agree," Sparatus said, "Our judgement must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation."

Tevos had no way of arguing with the turian, and it was obvious that Valern agreed with him. "Do you have anything else to add, Asset Toxotis?" the salarian councillor asked, "You were the one closest to Nihlus."

"The evidence against Saren may be just circumstantial at the moment," she said as calmly as she managed, "But I'm confident that further investigation will prove he's gone rogue. He murdered Nihlus, councillors, and he's working with the geth."

"Commander Shepard?" Valern turned to the human, sounding unconvinced.

"You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath," Jane said. She wasn't wrong, and Arthra wasn't big on manners _,_ but why did all humans have to be so rude to the council?

Closing the hearing, Tevos said, "The council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the spectres is denied. This meeting is adjourned."

"I'm glad to see justice served," Saren said smugly, "Asset, I suggest that next time I'm at the Citadel you'll be waiting to report to me. Hiding behind the humans won't end well for you."


	11. The Next Step

**Thank you so much KnightLawn!**

* * *

 _Hey Tox,_

Arthra opened a new message from Tela as she left the hearing,

 _As you know I didn't want to get involved in this mess with Saren, and I still don't, but I don't want him to put you down either._

 _The good news is that Saren got on the Broker's bad side. They used to do business, and now Arterius turned on him. And we both know Saren well enough to know, he wouldn't be going around making enemies as powerful as the Shadow Broker and the Alliance if he didn't think those risks are justified. He's planning something huge, babe._

 _Anyway, the Broker hired a krogan merc to deal with a former agent who's now working for Saren. I don't know much about the target or how he can help your investigation, but the krogan's name is Urdnot Wrex. My sources say he should be at C-Sec Academy. He's been in the business for centuries, Tox, and his reputation is good. If you're looking for allies to take down Saren, I'd rather you work with him than the humans. He probably has more experience than all of those Normandy-s combined._

 _Also, whatever Irissa wants from you – I wouldn't make her my enemy. Work with her, not against her._

 _That's it, babe. I helped as much as I can. If you die, don't blame me._

 _Vasir_

Arthra regrouped with the Normandy crew just as Udina walked angrily toward them. "It was a mistake bringing you into the hearing, captain," he told Anderson, making it sound like an accusation, "You and Saren have too much history. It made the council question our motives."

"I know Saren," the captain insisted, "He's working with the geth for one reason – to exterminate the entire human race."

Arthra shook her head with frustration. As unbearable as he was, Udina had a point – Anderson was too focused on Saren's politics to even realise what's happening. And he definitely wasn't the man for this job.

"Look," she said, mainly to Shepard, interrupting Anderson before he could go on with the speech, "I'm going to investigate a lead I've got on Saren. Maybe you should check if Vakarian knows anything."

"That's true," Udina said with a nod, "As a spectre Saren's virtually untouchable. We need to expose him. But I don't want the council using your past with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up, captain. Shepard will handle this from now."

Before the human soldiers could defend their captain, Arthra nodded and said, "He's right, Anderson. The more involved you are, the more credibility we'll lose. For a moment I almost convinced myself you're framing Saren."

All five humans looked at her with a mixture of shock and outrage, but her bluntness got the point across. "You're right," Anderson said, "I need to step aside."

"I need to take care of some business," Udina said before leaving, "captain, meet me in my office later."

"Good luck, Shepard," Anderson told the commander before he left as well, "I'll be over at the human embassy if you need anything else."

Shepard nodded, turning to Arthra and the other human soldiers. "What's our next step, Toxotis?" Shepard asked with authority.

"You said we should try working with Garrus, that C-Sec investigator, right?" Alenko recalled.

"That's right!" Williams said, sounding optimistic, "He was asking the executor for more time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren."

"Any idea where we could find him?" Shepard asked Arthra. The drell called him on her comms, leaving him a message, "Hey Vakarian. I'm assuming you're still working on Saren's investigation. Want a hand from Shepard?"

After about a minute he answered, "Sounds good. Have her meet me at Doctor Michel's clinic in the wards. I sent you the location."

"Good," Shepard responded to Vakarian's message, "Kaiden and I will go meet Garrus at the clinic. Ashley, I want you to go with Toxotis to follow her other lead." The commander knew neither of them will be happy about it, and added sternly before they could protest, "We all need to work together if we're going to take down Saren. No time for arguing, we should go."

They started moving, but since both teams were headed in the same direction they walked together for now. "It's wrong to just cut the captain out of the investigation," Shepard muttered angrily as they went.

"I'm assuming you don't actually know what happened between him and Saren?" Arthra asked, the humans' faces telling her she's right, "Trust me – that history justifies the decision."

"Then what did happen?" the commander asked.

"Twenty years ago they were on a mission together to find and remove a terrorist threat in the Skyllian Verge," she told the humans the story, "Anderson was a spectre candidate at the time, but he and Saren didn't trust each other and disagreed on the mission. Anderson tried to save a bunch of hostages, while Saren destroyed the place to eliminate the threat – with a lot of innocent civilians still inside. Anderson's reckless rescue attempt forced his hand, at least according to Saren. So while they technically got the job done, the mission was considered a huge failure and Anderson's candidacy died with it. Anyway, I think you can see now why people might suspect your captain's out to get Saren."

"How have I never heard about it?" Shepard said, still considering what Arthra told her.

"It's something of a secret, or rather a cover up," Arthra explained, "But Nihlus let me read the original uncensored reports."

"I'd still rather hear Captain Anderson's version about all of this," Williams said.

"Anderson wouldn't hold this grudge if it was just about his career," Shepard told them, determined, "Saren probably never even tried to avoid killing innocent people."

"Knowing Saren, I have to admit you're probably right," Arthra concurred.

"I still can't believe the council ignored all the evidence against Saren," Williams said angrily.

"Saren's one of their best operatives," Alenko reminded her, "It's only natural they'd take his word over ours."

"So now we just chase leads while the smug turian runs around with his geth troopers."

Arthra laughed, appreciating the human's healthy anger, but Alenko said calmly, "That's politics, chief."

"I hate politics!" she said, reminding Arthra of her conversation with Irissa. _This assassin seriously better have been just some random merc..._

"So what exactly is that other lead we're following?" Williams asked a minute later, after they split off from the other two.

"A tip from the Shadow Broker," Arthra said. She didn't want the humans to know that Tela gave her the information. She wasn't going to let the asari's name show up in an Alliance report.

"The Shadow Broker?" the human soldier asked, clearly clueless about the information dealer.

"A very powerful enemy Saren made recently, fortunately for us," Arthra said, not having the patience to explain any more for now. A short while later, they arrived to C-Sec Academy. It was easy to immediately see Urdnot Wrex – even without knowing him, it was impossible for Arthra to mistake the krogan bounty hunter for anyone else.

"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar," one of the officers surrounding Wrex said, trying to sound threatening, "Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you," the krogan said without any hesitation, sounding like he was stating to a child the most obvious fact in the galaxy.

"This is your only warning, Wrex."

"You should warn Fist. I will kill him."

"You want me to arrest you?"

"I want you to try."

"Go on," another officer said, but only after Wrex already started to leave, "Get out of here."

He stopped when he noticed Arthra and Williams were waiting for him. "A drell with a crossbow and an Alliance soldier," he said, sounding amused, "That's not a pair you see every day. Do I know you, little girls?"

"We're trying to bring down Saren," Arthra answered, clearly not intimidated, "Heard you're worth talking with, Urdnot Wrex."

"Then you've been listening to wise people," he said, "We may share a common goal, drell."

"Who's your mark?" she asked, "The Broker's agent that Saren turned?"

"The owner of Chora's Den, a man named Fist. A quarian showed up here on the Citadel. She was on the run. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide, so she went to Fist. He promised to arrange a meeting between her and the Shadow Broker – instead, he contacted Saren."

"What did Saren have to do with it?" Williams asked.

"The quarian has something that connects Saren to the geth. He paid Fist a small fortune for her."

"Toxotis, there's a quarian with information about the geth that Saren wants to keep hidden," she suddenly heard Shepard over the comms, "She must be able to link him to them. She tried to get protection from the Shadow Broker, but the agent she went to is working for Saren now. His name's-"

"Fist. I know," Arthra said, "We'll meet you at Chora's Den."

"Agreed. Time we paid Fist a visit. Move out."

"There's no way the council can ignore this," Williams said excitedly as they started moving.

"You help me kill Fist – she's all yours," Wrex told them.


	12. The Quarian

Arthra, Williams and Wrex found a couple of dead turians in the alley outside of Chora's Den.

"These aren't Fist's bodyguards," Wrex commented, "Saren must have sent assassins after your friend Shepard."

"Looks like the others didn't have much trouble with them, though," Ashley said, "I guess Saren's gonna have to try harder next time."

Just after she said it, they heard gunshot from inside the club.

"Be careful what you wish for," Arthra said as they drew their weapons and headed inside.

"Fist was expecting an attack," said Wrex calmly as he his shotgun blasted a thug's face off.

Shepard, Alenko and Vakarian were already in the middle of a fight with Fist's people, pushing towards his office in the back. Arthra shot one guard, her arrow piercing his head through, and used a biotic pull on another – allowing Williams to easily finish him off.

As they shot down the club owner's krogan bouncer, the group saw that the main room was empty and started making their way through the backrooms. "Stop right there!" one of Fist's men told them, his friend and him training their pistols at them, "Don't come any closer!"

Arthra was about to shoot them, but Vakarian raised his hand to tell her to wait. "These are warehouse workers, all the real guards must be dead already."

"Stay back or we'll shoot," the man warned them again, but now Arthra could see that he was stressed and afraid.

"This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work," Shepard told the workers. They thought for a second, and then nodded, "Yeah, right. That's a good idea," they said, "I never liked Fist anyway."

"It would've been quicker to just kill them," Wrex complained, and Arthra couldn't help but agree. Killing innocent people wasn't optimal, but stopping to figure out who's an enemy and who's just a bystander was a bad policy.

"Shooting people isn't always the answer," Kaiden said.

 _I guess maybe the Alliance does things differently,_ Arthra thought, but in the end she had to admit it was nice to have a little less blood on her hands.

They finally reached Fist, who was definitely ready for them. Complaining, "Why do I have to do everything myself?!" he shot at them with his pistol from cover. "Die, little soldiers!" he yelled at them, activating automated defence turrets.

Apparently Fist was a formidable foe, and could have been quite challenging if there were less of them. But with all six of them working together, combining biotics and firepower as Vakarian and Alenko overloaded the turrets and Fist's shields, he couldn't last long.

"Wait!" he begged, laying on the floor, when Arthra approached him with a shotgun aimed at his face, "Don't kill me! I surrender!"

"Where's the quarian?" she demanded.

"She's not here, I don't know where she is. That's the truth!"

"He's lying," Williams said.

"He's no use to you now, let me kill him," Wrex said.

"You'd better start explaining before my friends lose their temper," Shepard warned Fist.

"The quarian isn't here," he said, looking between Arthra and Wrex in fear, "Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."

"Impossible," Vakarian said, "The Shadow Broker only works through his agents."

Slowly standing up, Fist concurred, "Nobody meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. Even I don't know his true identity." It was true. Tela always told Arthra she didn't know who the Broker was, and if Tela didn't know than nobody did.

"But she didn't know that," Fist continued, "I told her that I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

"Where?" Arthra demanded, shoving the muzzle of her shotgun in his face again as a friendly reminder.

"Here on the Wards. The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry."

As soon as the words were out of the criminal's mouth, Wrex shot him dead. "What are you doing?!" Vakarian asked in shock, but Arthra didn't have time to waste and didn't care anyway. As far as she was concerned, after all the help they got from Tela and Wrex, it was only fair that the Shadow Broker's rogue agent died.

Either way, all that mattered was saving the quarian and getting her information. If the others wanted to stand around and argue – it was their choice.

"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him," Arthra heard Wrex plainly explain, but she was already on her way back to the club, "I don't leave jobs half done."

Distracted by Shepard's voice as she scolded the krogan, the drell almost didn't notice the thugs Saren sent as backup. One of them shot at her as she found cover behind a crate of booze, just barely missing, but Arthra used biotics to pull his pistol out of his hand and shot him with it.

Thankfully the others heard the shots, and soon joined the gunfight between the drell and Saren's men. Working as a group again, they forgot about their differences for the moment and were able to push forward out of Chora's Den.

As they came closer to the alley where Fist said the quarian should be, Arthra put away the dead thug's pistol and readied her crossbow. She wanted her favourite weapon for this. They needed the information that quarian had on Saren, and since his people probably already had her, they were going to have to fight for it.

At least, that's what Arthra assumed. But it seemed the turian assassin Saren hired underestimated the quarian. He only brought a couple of mechs with him, one of which she managed to disable, and was certainly not prepared for her to have backup.

They easily dealt with the assassin and his remaining mech, and the quarian looked around the alley – at the dead turian and disabled mechs, at the Alliance crew and C-Sec officer, and at Arthra and Wrex. Although it was obviously impossible to see her face, it was clear that she was quite shocked.

"Fist set me up," she said angrily, her voice shaky, and noticeably young, "I knew I couldn't trust him."

"Where's the intel on Saren and the geth?" Arthra demanded.

"Were you hurt in the fight?" Shepard asked the quarian, putting a hand on the drell's shoulder to pull her away from her.

"I know how to take care of myself," the young quarian answered, "Not that I don't appreciate the help... Who are you?"

"My name's Shepard," the Commander said, "My tactless friend's Toxotis. If you really have proof that Saren's a traitor, we need it."

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life," the quarian said, "But not here. We need to go somewhere safe."

"The ambassador's office," Alenko suggested, "It's safe there. He'll want to see this anyway."

Remembering Irissa's warning, Arthra said in an authoritative voice, "No. I won't trust Udina with this information until I know what's there. I know somewhere else we can go. It's safe, but it'll have to be just the three of us, Shepard."

Wrex shrugged, but Vakarian and the other humans wanted to protest. The Commander stopped them, however. She didn't want to waste time arguing – Toxotis was a good ally to have, and time was of the essence.


	13. Truth & Consequences

Arthra needed to take Shepard and the quarian somewhere that wasn't just safe from Saren's assassins, but from Udina and Irissa's agents as well. Until they decided what to do, they couldn't trust anyone.

There was only one place that suited Arthra's needs. Neither Saren nor any of the politicians will be able to find them there, because none of them knew about it. She's never even told Nihlus about her secret friend.

They had to go through a series of alleyways and maintenance shafts, enter passwords on several hidden keypads and pass through a couple of biometric scanners, before they finally reached her friend's safehouse on the Citadel.

"Tox?" they heard the young woman's voice to their left, and saw her on a large screen. Well, they only saw a hooded figure – Kasumi Goto's face was hidden under the hood's shadow, "What are you doing there? And why did you bring an N7 and a quarian I don't know into my safehouse?"

"Sorry, Red Rose," she used the master thief's old alias, "I wouldn't do this if I had an alternative. But this is an emergency, and for what it's worth I think you can trust them."

"It's fine, I'm not really mad," the young human answered, "Although, I can't promise K will feel the same way when I tell him. Anyway, so what's going on? I saw a news update about an all-out assault on some sleazy Citadel nightclub, was that you guys?"

"Yeah, we needed to rescue our quarian friend here from Saren's man," Arthra quickly explained, "She has information connecting him to the geth attack on Eden Prime..."

"And Nihlus's murder," Kasumi softly completed her sentence, "I heard about that... I'm sorry, Tox."

"Thanks."

"You said we couldn't trust anyone," Shepard said after a few seconds, "Why?"

"Politics," Arthra said, "I'll explain in a minute. But for now let's start with the evidence." The drell turned to the quarian.

"My name is Tali," she told them, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"You didn't know her name, but you trust her enough to bring her there?" Kasumi complained.

Arthra ignored her, and waited for the quarian to continue.

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood."

"I've never heard of this before," Shepard said.

"That's what happens when you spend your all life on Alliance vessels, Shep," Kasumi told her in amusement, "You are Commander Jane Shepard, right? From the Skyllian Blitz?"

"It is a tradition among my people," Tali'Zorah explained, "When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the Flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."

"What kinds of things do you look for?" Shepard asked, but before the quarian could answer Arthra said, "We're looking for evidence, Shepard. Not cultural trivia."

The commander looked annoyed, but she nodded and told Tali'Zorah, "Tell us what you found."

"During my travels I began hearing reports of geth," the quarian said, "Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious. I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

"Don't geth fry their memory cores when they die?" Kasumi questioned her, "How did you get around that?"

"My people created the geth," the quarian told her, "If you're quick, careful and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks."

Tali'Zorah used her omni-tool to access the recovered data, and they heard Saren's voice, "Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"We have our proof," Shepard said with a satisfied nod, although her face was still serious, "Any idea what 'finding the Conduit' could mean, though?"

"Maybe the Conduit is a piece of prothean tech? A weapon?" Arthra guessed, "Whatever it is, he was willing to risk his entire career to find it." Of course, he also killed a lot of people, but that wasn't unusual for Saren. Making powerful enemies and switching alliances was.

"Wait," Tali'Zorah told them, "There's more. Saren wasn't working alone."

Arthra frowned, remembering her conversation with Irissa vividly as if she was still in the matriarch's office. This could be what she's been worried about.

Tali'Zorah played the recording again from the start, and now they could hear a woman answering Saren – one who was clearly either human or asari, "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

"Do you recognise that voice?" Shepard asked Arthra, seeing the concern on her face.

"No," the drell said, "But that's the politics I was referring to earlier. The asari were worried there might be a matriarch working with Saren. If we keep this to ourselves, especially from Udina obviously, we'll know who she is and gain powerful allies along the way."

"You want me to keep this information from my superiors?"

"Only if she really is a matriarch. In that case, you'll still have her name and they won't need it. What is more important to you, Shepard, helping Udina's agenda or taking Saren down?"

"She's right, Shep," Kasumi supported her friend.

The commander thought about it for a couple of minutes, but eventually nodded. "We'll contact the asari," she said, although she was clearly not happy about it, "But first, what're these Reapers she talked about?"

"According to the memory core, the reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed fifty thousand years ago," Tali'Zorah told them, "The reapers hunted the protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe."

"This machine race believes that the protheans were destroyed by another machine race?" Arthra said with amused doubt, "Sounds like a convenient myth."

But Shepard seemed to think differently. "The vision on Eden Prime," she said, sounding thoughtful and serious, "I understand it now. I saw the protheans being wiped out by the reapers."

Arthra and Kasumi both snorted, but Tali'Zorah answered seriously, "The geth revere the reapers as gods. The pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the reapers back."

"So he's playing prophet with them? That explains how he got these wannabe quarians to work for him," Arthra said.

"The council needs to know about this, Toxotis," Shepard changed her mind, "We have to give them the whole thing."

"They'll never believe you, Shepard. I've known them for years. There is nothing to gain from telling them."

"The reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell them!" Shepard insisted.

"The reapers aren't real, Shepard!" Arthra argued, "Are you going to warn them about Earth-God sending a flood too? No one is going to believe you! You'll sound ridiculous, and make powerful enemies for nothing. The only thing you need to give them is the proof Saren's a traitor."

But Shepard wasn't going to be convinced. Arthra just hoped that the human was right.

* * *

"So how do you know that... Red Rose person?" Shepard quietly asked Arthra as they were on their way to a second meeting with the council, after sharing the information with Udina and the others. Although they skipped the part about the asari – the last thing they needed was for the ambassador to make that situation worse.

"I came across her file on one of the terminals in the Spectre Office a couple of years ago," the drell said, "I was curious, so I found a way to contact her and... I guess we just became friends after a while."

"If the spectres are looking for her, aren't you supposed to turn her in?"

"A spectre is looking for her," Arthra corrected Shepard, "And as long as that spectre wasn't Nihlus, I didn't have to do anything."

"Come on," Anderson said when they arrived, "Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the council."

* * *

"You wanted proof?" Udina said after playing the evidence to the councillors, "There it is."

"This evidence is irrefutable, ambassador," Sparatus admitted, "Saren will be stripped of his spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

Tevos looked down sadly, not saying a word. Knowing what they did, it was obvious to Arthra and Shepard this could only mean she recognised the other voice. It almost looked like the asari councillor wanted to say the truth, but was too afraid of Irissa to do so.

"Does anyone recognise that other voice? The one talking with Saren?" Valern asked, but no one answered, "We'll found out soon enough, probably. But I'm more interested in the reapers – what do you know about them?"

"Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core," Anderson said, "The reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the protheans, then they vanished."

"The geth believe the reapers are gods," Shepard added, "And Saren is the prophet for their return."

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back," Anderson continued, "Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime."

"Do we know what the Conduit is?" Valern asked. Clearly he believed the reapers were a myth. _If only someone told Shepard she's making a mistake..._ Now they lost the asari's support and gained nothing for it.

"Saren thinks he can bring back the reapers," Shepard persisted, "That's bad enough."

"Listen to what you're saying!" Sparatus said, "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy?! Impossible! It has to be! Where did the reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real we'd have found something!"

"I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again."

"When you had no proof, and it was your word against Saren's," Tevos sternly reminded the human, "Now we all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit. But everything else you've said... You ask of us to believe in myths, which is drastically different than your allegations against Saren."

"The reapers are clearly nothing more than a lie Saren uses to bend the geth to his will and hide his true intentions," Valern agreed.

Still, Shepard continued to try to convince them, "Fifty thousand years ago the reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the conduit, it will happen again." Nothing she said made a difference, though. The council refused to take any further action against Saren at this time, and the humans had no way of changing their minds.


End file.
